A Nonionic Alcohol Soluble Polymer Cathode Interlayer Enables Efficient Organic and Perovskite Solar Cells


Sharma A., Singh S., Song X., Rosas Villalva D., Troughton J., Corzo D., ...More

CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS, vol.33, no.22, pp.8602-8611, 2021 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 33 Issue: 22
  • Publication Date: 2021
  • Doi Number: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.1c01430
  • Journal Name: CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Chemical Abstracts Core, Chimica, Compendex, INSPEC
  • Page Numbers: pp.8602-8611
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The choice of interfacial materials and their properties play a critical role in determining solar cell performance and stability. For compatibility with roll-to-roll printing, it is desirable to develop stable cathode interface layers (CILs) that can be processed over the photoactive layer using orthogonal solvents. In this study, an n-type naphthalene diimide core and oligo (ethylene glycol) side-chain-based conjugated polymer is reported as a universal, efficient CIL for organic and perovskite photovoltaics. Besides good thermal stability and easy processing in alcohol/water, the new CIL is found to possess electron transport properties with an electrical conductivity of 2.3 x 10(-6) S cm(-1), enabling its use as a CIL with a film thickness of up to similar to 35(+/- 2) nm. Utilizing the new CIL, 16% power conversion efficiency (PCE) is achieved for organic solar cells (OSCs) based on the PM6-Y6 photoactive layer (8.9% PCE for no CIL and 15.1% with state-of-the-art CIL, PDINO), and perovskite solar cells from methylammonium lead iodide yielded a PCE of 17.6%. Compared to the reference devices, the new CIL reduced trap-assisted carrier recombination and increased the built-in potential by 80 mV, simultaneously enhancing all photovoltaic parameters. Moreover, new CIL based devices had better photostability with no burn-in losses.